Who is tougher: Predator’s Dutch or Prey’s Naru?

Prey, a new Predator prequel set 300 years ago, is hitting Disney+ this week. We asked its director and star who’d win in a fight: Dutch or Naru.

1987’s Predator is a bona fide action classic. However, its greatest strength isn’t the mandible-waggling monster himself, nor is it all of the bulging biceps and one-liners. It’s how the movie starts off as one thing, and completely upends your expectations with another apex in the mix.

To this day, it’s the only film to make me believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger could ever be afraid of anything. Of course, with a can-do attitude, traps, and lots of mud, he eventually beats the Predator at its own game – but it’s not an easy fight. If anything, he was lucky to survive.

Prey is a bit different. It’s set in the Comanche Nation, and its lead character is an aspiring hunter and expert tracker. The question is, who’d win in a fight between the two heroes?

Prey director on who’d win between Dutch and Naru

Prey follows Naru (Legion’s Amber Midthunder) as she sets off to find a mysterious beast that’s skinned snakes alive and left buffalo carcasses in its wake. Is it a lion, or a bear? No, it’s a Predator.

The original Predator stars Schwarzenegger as Dutch, the leader of a paramilitary rescue team tasked with saving hostages in a camp in Val Verde.

In an interview with Dexerto ahead of the prequel’s release, we asked director Dan Trachtenberg who’d win in a fight between the two characters.

“I don’t think they would fight each other, but you know, what I will say is… it takes a long time for Dutch to realize things that Naru and other Comanches start out knowing in the movie. So, that really does suggest something, I think,” he said.

Prey star thinks Naru would beat Dutch in a fight

The first film pivots its attention to the monster around halfway through, after Blain is blasted by the plasma cannon.

On the other hand, Prey is a tight 90 minutes, most of which is spent hunting for the Predator as it stalks anything with a pulse, with Naru immediately suspicious of “lightning” in the trees and tracks she’s never seen before.

We asked Midthunder the same question, and she was far more definitive in her answer. “I mean, I obviously believe in her so much, I obviously think she would win [laughs],” she said.

“I mean, I’m sure everybody has their own opinions about this, but I just really believe in her, I think she’s got it.”

Prey hits Disney+ and Hulu on August 5.